July 24, 2018

President Trump Tweets at Iran

On Sunday, President Donald Trump tweeted, “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!” (Twitter)

The left sees a replay of Trump’s North Korea strategy, but worries about its effectiveness a second time with a different adversary.

The right generally supports pushing back against Iran, but does not find Trump’s threat particularly credible.

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“The question is whether Trump has any speed except PEDAL TO THE METAL AT ALL TIMES... can he shift gears if it doesn't work as well with Iran? Does he understand -- or care about -- the complexities inherent in this sort of diplomacy?”

The right generally supports pushing back against Iran, but does not find Trump’s threat particularly credible.

“Trump was right to react forcefully to Iranian threats... But his problem is that the weak deal he struck with North Korea has degraded the value of Trump’s threats, leaving Iran’s leadership less reason to think there is credible steel behind the bluster. Perhaps just as dangerously, they might be wrong about that.”

National Review

“It’s as though everyone forgot when Trump threatened North Korea with ‘fire and fury’ — a threat that ended with Trump traveling to South Korea, treating Kim Jung Un like an old friend, and then declaring that he had successfully denuclearized the country... Trump’s tweet isn’t anything to lose sleep over.”